You Are God’s Poem!

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Today’s verse contains a lovely image. For the Greek word for “workmanship” is “poiema” which is the root of our English word “poem.” You and I are God’s poetry, exquisite works of love over which he has labored with all the care and attention to detail that Shakespeare gave to his sonnets or Dante gave to the intricate texture of his Divine Comedy. To be a Poem of God is a vastly different thing than to be a Math Problem of God or a Legal Difficulty of God or Philosophical Problem of God. It bespeaks the tenderness, the exacting love of beauty, the tears and living that God has brought to bear on our creation. The only thing more piercing than being told we are God’s Poem is being told we are God’s own children. And he has told us that too.

Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. The author of numerous books, his most recent work is The Work of Mercy (Servant) and The Heart of Catholic Prayer (Our Sunday Visitor). Mark contributes numerous articles to many magazines, including his popular column “Connecting the Dots” for the National Catholic Register. Mark is known nationally for his one minute “Words of Encouragement” on Catholic radio. He also maintains the Catholic and Enjoying It blog and regularly blogs for National Catholic Register. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.